3 Travel Vloggers to Follow: Va-va-vroom, va-va-video, va-va-vlog!

A vlog is a blog turned monologue that contains video content. It requires a person (vlogger) with no fear of red flickering recording buttons, a good amount of confidence as well as perseverance. Lots of it.

Va-va-vroom, va-va-video, va-va-vlog

Vlogging has been around for more than a decade and if there is one thing to say about vloggers it is that they are tuned in and put together quite differently than bloggers.

They whip out cameras in public and talk to these digital machines stretched out in front of them and somehow, while the rest of the world simultaneously agree that they despise (and avoid) hearing their own voice on camera, they just power through it and do it.

They make it seem so simple. So easy. As if the whole process is just lights, camera, action and viola.

But it is not.

It is lights, camera, action on repeat, on steroids and on something else.

And then there is the editing.

While Instastories, Snapchat and Facebook Live Video fill our minutes and feeds with snappy real-time videos – with no edits other than colourful crazy filters – it is the nifty editing skills of vloggers, videographers and video-making enthusiasts that leaves me in awe and a tiny bit speechless.

If you’ve ever attempted to construct and put a video together (especially if you have no skills), you’ll know that a quick 90-second video – made up from multiple clips as you sifted through the good, the bad and the ugly – will, without effort, shallow your whole day and keep your butt planted in front of the computer screen until your eyes start twitching.

Even the highly-skilled and talented experience it in the same way; Lloyd Koppel – a South African genius behind the camera and behind the editing screen – not only spends countless of hours filming, but also countless of hours editing to get to the “viola” of his videos. But that’s not all. It never is. There is also the matter of finding the right music to fit with each video and making sure that the rising tones of the music happens at the same time as a highlight in the video, another time-consuming task that would leave my brain in ash, but somehow they stay sane.

If you want to view some of Lloyd’s videos (trust me, you want to, click here. Also watch the video he filmed and edited, De Hoop Nature Reserve, one of my favourite videos; I can watch it over and over again.

And of course, then there is the dear old friend, YouTube, a platform we all enjoy, but boy oh boy, it’s a difficult one to lead people to if you share your video’s link on Facebook (or on other social media platforms). A study conducted a few months ago showed that the engagement of Facebook’s viewers has been 5 times more than that of YouTube viewers; that means more comments, more shares, more likes – all on Facebook instead of YouTube.

Let’s not lie.

It’s tough.

But vloggers power through it any way.

And while they power through it, I sit behind my computer screen, type and write like a mad woman and avoid any and all types of red flickering lights. Not only does my voice sound terrible on camera but my accent has a personality order as well (read more about The Truth Behind my Accent). Whenever I remember that I have Snapchat on my phone, I use the bee filter which has a voice changer. It even puts a bee mask on my face which allows me to leave my comb in the corner a little bit longer.

I respect vloggers, I respect vloggers not only because they get up, get dressed and comb their hair but also because they power through it, they persevere, they continue and usually their passion trumps numbers, dollar signs and statistics.

And while I know a lot incredible bloggers with incredible videos, here are 3 (travel) vloggers – the people who talk to the audience behind their cameras – I respect; an honest vlogger, a talented vlogger and a one-of-a-kind quirky vlogger.

3 Travel Bloggers to Follow

The Honest One: Christine Kaaloa – Grrrl Traveller

Christine is a solo female travel blogger, YouTuber and videographer who shares travel survival tips and inspires others to find their GRRR for travel.

I’ve been following her adventures for quite a few years – before I started my own blog – and even though it started with reading her stories, I’ve gotten quite addicted to her videos on YouTube during the last year. She is honest. She talks about toilets and makes videos on how to use squat toilets (and of course I love talking about poo and toilets too so one can understand the love). She gives helpful tips – not Googled-10-things-do-this-not-that tips, real tips from her own experiences as a solo female traveller.

Travel teaches you to have an open mind. It can expose you to a variety situations. Here’s one type of toilet I’ve run into a few times in Asia. It’s not my favorite and that’s not because it’s a squat toilet. Here is a China Toilet. Would you?

The Talented One: Andy Carrie

Andy Carrie is a creative and strategic thinker, a digital content creator, a visual storyteller and a jack-of-all-trades with a love for travel, an eye for detail and a head for everything in between.

Okay, everyone is talented, but if one looks at Andy’s videos on YouTube you feel the need to climb into his brain and set up camp a bit, especially when the drone comes out (then I want to climb out of his brain and politely steal the drone but anyway…). This guy is mega-talented and should come with a sign, “watch out world”. His videos are eloquently directed, passionately filmed and meticulously edited to not only give his audience an authentic experience, but also to take them along for the ride.

The Quirky One: Sandhira Chetty

Sandhira Chetty is a South African journalist who has been living the fast-internet-life in South Korea since 2012, she shares the bizarre moments of life as an expat (and occasionally – when she has internet – as a South African living on a farm) with quirkiness and heaps of unapologetic truth bombs.

It feels like I’ve been waiting years and years for Sandhira’s videos and then, less than a month ago, she published her first video on YouTube, a week later another one and then another one. I’ve known Sandhira since 2012, we met in South Korea and got on like a house on fire (even though we are polar opposites); and let me tell you, there is no end to her humour, rants, sarcasm and talents. Her channel is brand-spanking-new and in the description of her channel she wrote, “If you’ve landed on this page by mistake, then you’re probably awful at spelling. Welcome anyway!” – yes, that is Sandhira in a nutshell. This expat in South Korea has only shared 3 videos so far but I’m so excited to see and hear more! At this moment Sandhira is probably not a travel vlogger in the traditional sense, but she’ll be sharing stories from Korea – as an expat – so who cares what is the traditional sense of travel vlogger, I’m damn proud of her.

I do apologise profusely for the quality of this video. The day I recorded, the sky was 50 shades of grey and my poor iPhone couldn’t handle it. Okay, bye. Check out my last video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz5vtumxBg0 FIND ME HERE: https://twitter.com/Sandhira_C https://www.instagram.com/sandhira/?hl=en SC: sandhira9 AND DON’T FORGET MY CHAIRS: https://www.instagram.com/sandhira/?hl=en